Depa and Design Studio in joint venture to target Southeast Asia's boom in hospitality & commercial projects fitting-out

This Depa joint venture aims to capture large-scale interior fit-out deals in the booming real estate sector of Singapore and Southeast Asia.

With Design Studio's niche position in Singapore and Depa's excellent track record and expertise, the joint venture, DDS Asia Holdings Pte Ltd ('DDS'), will be able to capture higher value deals.

DDS, in which Depa holds 55% and Design Studio 45%, will target interior contracts in the hospitality & commercial segments within Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Mr. Mohannad Sweid, CEO of Depa, commented, 'We are pleased to have Design Studio as our partner for the Southeast Asian market. Depa has been a shareholder of Design Studio since August 2006, and we have confidence in its industry expertise and knowledge of the markets in Asia. We believe our strengths are complementary and allow us to deliver large projects in the region.'

Mr Bernard Lim, Executive Chairman & CEO of Design Studio, said, 'We are privileged to join hands with Depa. With the booming Asian economies and Depa's valuable Middle East experience, we are confident of securing significant projects in the near future.'

In Singapore, DDS will form a wholly-owned subsidiary, DDS Contracts & Interior Solutions Pte Ltd ('DDS Singapore'), which will exploit growth opportunities in the real estate & construction sector in Singapore. DDS Singapore is a specialist company poised to be a significant player offering a comprehensive fit-out suite, including turnkey and retrofitting services, to new and existing hospitality and commercial projects.

Analysts are bullish on the construction sector in Singapore, which is at the implementation stage of multi-year projects announced in 2006.

An estimated S$54.4bn ($39.4bn) of committed projects up until 2010 are to be scheduled for construction.

The hotel sector, for example, requires over 5000 rooms to be built or renovated in the next few years.

This is to cater to strong tourist inflows for major events such as Singapore's inaugural Formula-1 Race in 2008, the launch of two Integrated Resorts in 2009 and 2010, and other attractions.